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Panic attacks IBS and bloating. PLEASE HELP

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Posted 1/21/2012 9:57 PM (GMT 0)
Hi everyone,
I am 21 years old and I have been having very bad digestion problems since I was 18 years old. I have always been a person afraid of diseased and afraid in general so it wasn't a surprise to find out that I have anxiety which has recently been accompanied by panic attacks...if you can call the them that.

The panic attacks are different every time, but yesterday I experienced the worst one yet. The usually happen when I am hungover for some reason, probably because my stomach is most upset after drinking. Anyways what happened was I had dinner and started feeling very unsettled and irritable, like I didn't know what to do with myself. When I got home it was getting worse. My stomach stared going rock hard, which is usually what happens. I started getting dizzy and extremely shaky. My who belly felt pumped with air I felt so light inside every breath I took felt empty. I could't stand, sit, lie down nothing. It lasted for over 5 hours. It was absolutely terrible. I tried to breathe but i couldn't. A huge phlem formed in my throat making it even harder for me to take a breath.

My question is, if I was not in a stressful situation at all how come this happened? Could it be possible that I that's how my body reacts to food? It bloats and presses on my lungs or something because I can't explain it. Normally I am worried that I am having a heart attack, this time it was so different. My arms didnt tingle or anything, I just felt so sore like every nerve in my body was being pinched. Could anyone help me? What should I do? And am I right to thing that my panic attacks aren't psychological but physiological, and if so what should my next step be?

Sorry about the length of this and thans so much to anyone who offers a reply :)
Posted 1/22/2012 9:48 AM (GMT 0)
Hi

Good to meet you and welcome to the forum. Anxiety can cause all sorts of physical symptoms which can quite often mimic other things the mind is very powerful. I am not a doctor so would suggest you talk things through with them right every thing down so when you go you don't forget anything.

Anxiety is a hard thing to deal with and a lot of people decide to take some medication to help with the symptoms but that really is a personal choice. The main thing is to work out what is making you feel anxious and get to the route cause the best way of doing this is by doing some talking therapy such as CBT which has good results with anxiety disorders.

The CBT helps you to identify the triggers and then teaches you coping techniques. It does take a lot of work so best to take a small step at a time. The aim of CBT is for you to be able to manage your anxiety better so it is not so intrusive on your life. I am glad you found this site you will get good support here and I am sure other will be along soon. Take Care

Hibee
Posted 2/6/2012 6:44 PM (GMT 0)
SHORT VERSION: The gas/bloating is CAUSING the panic attack. Taking an anti-gas tablet will stop it. [Well, depending on how much gas you've got...] In the future, find out what causes the bloating/gas for YOU, fix THAT, and your panic attacks may disappear... LONG VERSION: I've had these on and off for over 40 years now. I've narrowed it down to bloating SOMEHOW causing the anxiety/panic attacks. It even sometimes comes on gradually. I start brooding over something, then worrying about it, then panicking about it, teeth chattering, legs locking, hard to hold a coherent thought! The whole fight or flight response. I try to burp, and to my surprise, I had a lot of gas in my stomach, with NO symptoms of it. I take a simethicone tablet and within 30 minutes I'm back to normal, and the problem I was panicked about is back in it's proper perspective. Obviously, most doctors thought the anxiety caused the stomach upset, not the other way around. I really don't think an anti-gas tab would help anxiety attacks, if the gas wasn't the cause in the FIRST place. I doubt it's a placebo effect either. I NEVER really expect it to work. It ALWAYS does. Now if I start getting cranky, I check if I can burp, if I have gas, pop a tab, and am feeling normal/ better mood within a half hour... And, no, for me, I can't really burp much, if I don't have gas... By the way, the 'fun' attacks are the night panic attacks, when they wake you up from sleep panicking! [And, no, I wasn't worrying about anything when I went to bed...] Now I just focus on the causes of the BLOATING/gas and as I got a handle on that, the attacks dropped off accordingly... Hope this helps....
Posted 2/6/2012 10:20 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Dalton,

I have very bad ibs so a simethicone tablet never helps me :( I've tried them before. There is nothing that helps the stomach when it happens. I just feel so full of air and every breath i take in feels empty. It's very strange. I do suffer from anxiety as well though so it's so hard to tell what's causing what but i never have a panic attack without being extremely bloated. Thank You so much anyways and I am glad that you have found a remedy :)
Posted 2/8/2012 6:16 AM (GMT 0)
Termoska,

I just replied to a similar question about feeling bloated, or gassy. Alot of times when people experience acid reflux/gerd, IBS, or have a hiatal hernia, the gas gets "trapped" so to speak, and causes what I call gas bubbles or gas pockets. These ailments commonly cause a bloated feeling, burping, and passing gas. Sometimes it can affect our Vagus Nerve, and this in turn can causes heart palpitations, which in turn causes anxiety for those of us that suffer from it.

I suffer from all of the above, and possibly an ulcer, and when it happens to me I will either take a few TUMS (3 or 4), or some Pepto Bismol. It usually does the trick for me. Maybe you could try one of them to see if it helps you any. It is a very uncomfortable feeling and I hope you find something that gives you some type of relief from it.

Take care,

Fox

Post Edited (Fox7) : 2/7/2012 11:19:40 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 2/15/2012 6:07 PM (GMT 0)

Termoska,

 

Yes, the anti-gas tabs don't really work all that well, if you keep on generating gas. For example, my spouse has a SEVERE LACTOSE INTOLERANCE that only appeared well into middle age. They had a stomachache and bloating for two days after eating a slice of cheese pizza. They were using anti-gas tabs and alka-seltzer, which helped very little...

 

A food diary would certainly help if that's what is causing the bloating.

 

Best Regards!

 

PS- If you don't already know about SIBO (small intestine bacterial overgrowth), be sure to Google/search it...

Posted 2/15/2012 6:48 PM (GMT 0)
I went through a bout with this for a while, getting so uncomfortably bloated after eating only a little bit.  I thought it was something serious.  I finally got an upper endoscopy for burning in my stomach and results came back as mild acid reflux.  So I think the bloating was probably due to that.  It might have been anxiety too.  Sometimes I've had physical symptoms that aren't explained.  It worries me.

What you could try is to change your diet.  I tried this when I was having some stomach issues.  Kind of like an elimination diet.  I started eating as natural as I could-eliminated processed foods.  It definately helped me.  I was eating a lot of junk.  Also, have you tried rubbing your whole belly in a clock-wise motion?  Sometimes this helps to move gas around and can bring relief. 

But maybe you should talk to a doctor.  It may be nothing.  It's frustrating that anxiety can cause such physical symptoms and in turn physical symptoms can cause such anxiety.

Posted 2/16/2012 11:13 AM (GMT 0)
I have no question that Dalton is right about his condition, but his experience may not be universal. I was going through a lot of stomach problems several years back. I saw lots of gastroenterologists but none found a physical cause. The last one I saw put me through a bunch of tests like the others, and when everything came back good he determined that the gas and nausea I had were actually panic attacks. My stomach didn't inflate and make me nervous...apparently I was nervous on a subconscious level and that caused my stomach to go screwy. After trying a couple meds I was put on Klonopin which stopped these really bad "spells" immediately. In the years since my anxiety still flares up, sometimes accompanied similar but more minor stomach issues, and sometimes there are no stomach problems at all. When I do have stomach problems, it doesn't seem to be related to what I've eaten.

Orchid mentioned acid reflux, and I also have that. I've had that since my early 20s. It can definitely cause more symptoms than simple heartburn, that is for sure. I don't think it was ever the root cause of the really bad stuff I went through, but it definitely added to it.

But, yeah, I know pretty much how you feel. It usually happened after eating, but it would also happen if I hadn't eaten in a long time, and if it was the latter I could eat a little something and it would calm my stomach if I was lucky. And it would happen at random times as well. The hard stomach...I'm all too familiar with that. And it happens so quickly! One minute I'd be fine, and the next I'd look like a pregnant man. Not a good look for me, and it didn't feel nice, either. So yes definitely try some simethicone capsules. Simethicone is also in some antacids, too (Maalox "Advanced", for example). The way I see it, if a person's upper GI tract is so full of gas that it can be seen or even stretch the skin out to the point that it stings, then it has to be pressing on your other organs, too. It's bad.

I think you should still see a gastroenterologist, though. It never hurts to rule things out. My whole odyssey with anxiety actually started with a bad gall bladder. It ended up that I didn't have stones or the pain that's associated with them. I was sick, and what caused that was a very small, benign tumor in my gall bladder right next to the bile duct. Since this is somewhat unusual, I saw doctor after doctor and cancer was brought up more than once. To that point I was a healthy young man with no history of illness, so I was shocked and scared. I'm convinced that's what gave me anxiety problems and kept me sick even after I had surgery. These panic attacks didn't feel entirely different from what I felt like before I had surgery, either. The mind works in weird ways.

Anyway, good luck.

PS - I am up way too early and so my post may not have made sense.
Posted 4/22/2014 4:21 AM (GMT 0)
Hi people. I'm new here. The reason I signed up to be part of healingwell is the response Dalton gave. I have the exact same problem. I'm 52 and have had it off and on for many years (mostly off). It has just started reoccurring recently. Years ago I wouldn't find anything related on the internet for most of the responses were mental/anxiety fixes, and none said the problem started in the gut. Mine STARTS in my gut and then the anxiety follows. I just recently googled "gut, anxiety" and, lo and behold, lots of new studies and comments from various medical doctors. Very interesting stuff. Look for yourself and see if any relate to your symptons. The gut is an amazing bacteria holding part of our body and when something is unbalanced or other problems it sends the messages to the brain quickly through nerves, especially the Vagal? nerve. A Dr. Wakefield in the U.K. found a gut-autism-vaccination link years ago but government and big pharma made him out to be a quack. He isn't. Now the new studies and showing similar results. It's our bodies and we need to make infomed decisions.
I'm trying probiotics now, I'll let you all know how they work for me.

Many thanks
Posted 7/22/2014 3:04 AM (GMT 0)
I'm years and a lot of tests and research into this. I was diagnosed with neurocardiogenic syncope. Anxiety does not cause it but the opposite. An anxiety attack won't last five to ten hours and wipe you out for several days to a few weeks. I had these attacks of irritability, confusion, weekness, disturbed vision and hearing, indescribsble fear. The tilt test confirmed it was not a simple matter of
of freaking out easily. I was also dx with gastroparesis and multiple sclerosis, which has not progressed. What happens to me: When i have gas, i feel mentally irratible and scared. I can make myself belch add much as i need to. Great talent fir this issue. If i catch it in time, i can usually belch until it's all good and feel fine. If not, I can have a full blown ncs attack. In my forn of ncs, my whole autonomic system gets involved and things fire off. False synapses. Adrenals start dumping, reserve hormones dump and every organ stresses. That's why it lasts so long and went it takes too long to recover.
I've had an endoscope but they said theres no hiatal. Position effects me but even more, falling asleep. Just as I drift off, if I have gas, zips of adrenaline surge through my core to my heart and head. I've researched adrenal fatigue and this fits everything. Doctors don't test for it, but a four point cortisol saliva test through the day could determine if the adrenals are producing cortisol correctly. That'd my next step. If I can get my doctor to do the test, Great. Otherwise, it's a $300 test. Irritants such as sugar, gluten, medications and smoking effect your adrensl glands FIRST. Getting the adrenals supported and eliminating the irritant is important. Gluten and smoking are mine. Mineral deficiency is a big factor. Magnesium helps a lot. I also take digestive enzymes
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